Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-01-27

| Now after he.had tortured seventy people in
this way, what man that would feign to be q
man but what would declare that he was pun
ished no worse than he ought to be, so with
| all other cases of similar kind that are 50
much harped upon by certain classes of indi-
viduals.
| So if we look again at the course pursued
by Abraham in regard to Isaac's wife, that it
was all right. That it was the Lord that was
doing all this, that Abraham was simply the
agent or servant of the Lord, and the Lord
could make a much better choice for Isaac
than he could make for himself. And this
statement is verified in the fact that history
reveals that they were an exceedingly loving
pair. But lest this doctrine might uphold too
| strongly without further calculation, the be
| lief of many parents that like Abraham they
| should have the whole management and
choose partners for their children. no matter
| what their childrens likes and dislikes may
be- we are led to say that from our somewhat
limited observation, rather more people live
happy and prosper who choose for themselves
than those who have had others to choose for
them Extremes, however, on either side
should be avoided if possible. and it is better
| that all parties most concerned should be COM
paratively satisfied and be like Abraham and
his servant and Isaac. leave it to God to make
! the choice. Although it is certainly required
of us according to our ability and Opportuni-
ties to acquaint ourselves with God and his
laws, both moral and natural, and with our
fellow creatures in regard to temperament.
disposition and SO on, either by the aid Of
phrenology, physlognomy and physiology. or
in any way Obtainable, and then invoking
Gods guidance ut the same time using our
knowledge rs test. But our party must be
almost to Mesopotam;a by this time. Yes, I
see them vending their way up the valley and
approaching the city of Major. Now see
the servant begin to scheme. He pravs God
to Grant that the young dRmsel to whom he
shall say. give me to drink, that If she shall
say drink. and l will also give thy camcis
drink. that that may be the one that God
had appointed for Isaac. And the lot fell on
RebecCa. the daughter of Bethuel, and the
sister of Laban and second cousin to Isaac,
Now the servant seems to understand his bus
mess and gives as qualifications that that is
too much given at the present day. viz: rich
es He at once begins to tell how rich his mas
ter ia and that he is now old and he ia going to
give all his great wealth to Isaac. That was
all right enough So far as 1t went, but he
ought to have gone on and told what kind Of
a looking fellow Isaac was, and what kind Of a
disposition he had and SO on.
Well, Rebecca like most other girls, sup
pose was almost wild with delight. at least she
was willing to go Mt once. So they start on
their journey hOmeward and as they are APP
preaching Rebecca's new home, man Is seen
and behold it is Isaac out in the field meditat-
ing and no doubt laughing to himself. The
principal thing that can he said of Isaac is
that he was born, lived and meditated. mar
ried Rebecca, meditated, blessed Jacob and
Esau and was no more. Now there must be
some cause for Isaac's peculiar meditative
disposition. and If We examine we find that
when the Lord told Abraham that he would
give him son by Sarah that Abraham fell
upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart
shall n child he born unto him thar is an hun
bred years old, and shall Sarah that is ninety
years old bear? Now from this it is quite evil
dent that Abraham laughed and medtated in
his heart aud thought the matter DER and Ger
Anu uSdiil Wucii uuEcIS tOiu AuCu.
ham that Sarah should have sont Sarah was
in u tent behind them and heard it. and she
laughed within herself saying "After am
waxed old. shall have pleasure. my lord be-
ing old also?' Now I suppose Sarah frequent
ly laughed and meditated on this that had
been said of her. Consequently Isaac must
according to the laws of nature inherit this
disposition and was therefore meditative
man. This law of transmitting character is
quite prominently brought out in the person
of Ishmael. Abraham's first son, for when Ha- |
gar saw that she was blessed above her mis- |
tress Sarah, she despised her, scorned her. |
dist,aiaed her. Knocked and made fun of her. |
So Sarah complained to Abraham. and Abra- !
ham said thy maid is in thy hand do unto her
as il pleaseth thee. and SO when Sarah dealt !
hardly. severely, harshly. or roughly with Ha- |
gar she fed. New We see from this that Sa- |
rah and Hagar spatted and quarrelled great |
deal until Hagar could stand 1t no longer. or
perhaps she did something to her mistress
that she knew would be beyond compromise.
at least in the heat of passion, and SO fed to
the wilderness for safety. Consequently Ish-
mael was wild man and fighter. just as the
angel of the Lord said he would he. And
when Ishmael was a boy he was seen knocking
and haunting and making fun of Isaac. and
what is so very remarkable is that that peculiar
characteristic Of Ishmael has been handed
down to his defendants from generation to
generation even to the present day. They are
found in Egypt and Arabia and Afghanistan
and Beloochistan and now known as the Be-
douins, They steal something or strike up
fight or do some depreciation to the inhabit-
ants @: Palestine and adjoining countries and
then fee to the wilderness or deserts of Ara
bia. Or Afehanistan, or Beloochistan where it
is impossible to follow them: then after things
have quieted down they return again just as
Haxar did, fought with her mistress. fed to
the wilderness and then returned again.